The Compendium on Ganesa

Contents: Introduction. 1. The Vedic background. 2. In the Smrti context. 3. Tantrik involvements. 4. Myths and legends. 5. Forms for worship.

From the introduction: "Ganesa's popularity is manifold. He is the favourite God of the masses. He is also the favourite subject for curio-hunters and collectors of icons. Painters and sculptors have revelled in depicting this God in a variety of forms and postures. The Tantrik practitioners have found in him a benevolent power, quick to acquire and enduring in nature. There is no religious group in the country which dispenses with his services. And more importantly, Ganesa has been subjected to endless enquiry about his origin, nature, significance, symbolism and cultic involvement. Research scholars have surrounded him with diverse theories: sociological, anthropological, cultural, historical, literary and linguistic, political and economic answers are suggested to be the secret of his popularity; agriculture, hunting, elephant capture, formation of early totemistic communities, and strife amongst them are sought to be seen in the background of this deity. Excessive use of imagination appears to be the undercurrent in all such studies, which have also incidentally brought to surface many interesting aspects of Ganesa-worship.

Literature about Ganesa is remarkable, varied and large. Every Indian language has works bearing on this deity and on his worship. Works in Sanskrit, which appear to have provided the main source material for all of them, are themselves large in number and varied in nature : puranas, kalpas, paddhatis, sadhanas, vidhis and namavalis. Representations of Ganesa in stone, metal, clay and wood, and in painting are equally numerous and varied."